Definitely if the Pats can win out. Denver would hand the Ravens a loss and put them one more loss away from falling behind us. If we don't win out and Denver moves ahead we could be facing them and Manning in Denver for a playoff game. The Patriots just need to get and stay healthy, if they can do that nobody's beating them. Only way the Patriots lose is if they beat themselves.

Does Brady ever drop? It seems like he's better every year. I know I'm a homer but man this guy is good.

Definitely if the Pats can win out. Denver would hand the Ravens a loss and put them one more loss away from falling behind us. If we don't win out and Denver moves ahead we could be facing them and Manning in Denver for a playoff game. The Patriots just need to get and stay healthy, if they can do that nobody's beating them. Only way the Patriots lose is if they beat themselves.

Does Brady ever drop? It seems like he's better every year. I know I'm a homer but man this guy is good.

Based solely on the tie breakers with the Ravens. If the Patriots and Ravens both finished 13-3, the Ravens would get the 2nd seed because they beat us. But if the Bronco's also finished at 13-3, then would we be able to jump Baltimore for the 2nd seed?

dapats you are correct if the Pats, Ravens, and Broncos end up with identical records, and the Broncos beat the Ravens, the Pats would get the #2 seed. The tiebreaker would be conference record and the Pats would be 11-1 the others would each have two losses. Read this in the papaer today, but sorry cant recall where!

not if its a 3 or 4 way tie.. i was playing with the playoff machine on epsn here how it goes

these are all 13-3 tie breakers

4 way tie if the pats win out and houston loses to one other team denver wins out and baltmore only loses denver pats get the one seed

3 way tie with denver/baltmore pats end up with the highest seed based on tie breakers

3 way tie with baltimore/houston.. if baltmore loses to anyone but the giants/redskins pats get the 1 seed houston 2 baltimore 3 (if baltmore loses to skins/giants tiebreaker is SOV and thats hard to figure out this far out)

Here are the basic wild-card tiebreaking rules for teams from different divisions. The fact that we beat Denver head-to-head helps us. The fact that we lost to Baltimore hurts.

TO BREAK A TIE FOR THE WILD-CARD TEAM

If it is necessary to break ties to determine the two Wild-Card clubs from each conference, the following steps will be taken.

If the tied clubs are from the same division, apply division tie breaker.

If the tied clubs are from different divisions, apply the following steps.

Two Clubs

Head-to-head, if applicable.

Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the conference.

Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games, minimum of four.

Strength of victory.

Strength of schedule.

Best combined ranking among conference teams in points scored and points allowed.

Best combined ranking among all teams in points scored and points allowed.

Best net points in conference games.

Best net points in all games.

Best net touchdowns in all games.

Coin toss.

Three or More Clubs

(Note: If two clubs remain tied after third or other clubs are eliminated, tie breaker reverts to step 1 of applicable two-club format.)

Apply division tie breaker to eliminate all but the highest ranked club in each division prior to proceeding to step 2. The original seeding within a division upon application of the division tie breaker remains the same for all subsequent applications of the procedure that are necessary to identify the two Wild-Card participants.

Head-to-head sweep. (Applicable only if one club has defeated each of the others or if one club has lost to each of the others.)

Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the conference.

Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games, minimum of four.

Strength of victory.

Strength of schedule.

Best combined ranking among conference teams in points scored and points allowed.

Best combined ranking among all teams in points scored and points allowed.

Best net points in conference games.

Best net points in all games.

Best net touchdowns in all games.

Coin toss

When the first Wild-Card team has been identified, the procedure is repeated to name the second Wild-Card, i.e., eliminate all but the highest-ranked club in each division prior to proceeding to step 2. In situations where three or more teams from the same division are involved in the procedure, the original seeding of the teams remains the same for subsequent applications of the tie breaker if the top-ranked team in that division qualifies for a Wild-Card berth.

The way the Pats are playing right now, it may not matter if they are the 1st or 3rd seed. I believe they can beat any one on any field. They just have to win the AFC East (not a major feat there), and the rest will take care itself.

As for Manning and the Texans, let's see how they fair in the month of December when game time temps are at or below freezing. Remember now, Houston has to come up here in a few weeks, as does SF. Pats just need to play each game one-at-a-time and take care of business.